Greetings, Storytellers! Diana here today. I hope you’re all writing up a storm.

I’ve wanted to write about first chapters for a while, primarily because they’re so important. After all, they’re the gateway to Chapter 2, and getting a reader to Chapter 2 is a fantastic idea.

Before I get into the elements of a powerful first chapter, let’s touch briefly on different ways to open a book.

There are actually a number of perfectly legitimate types of first chapters. Writer’s Digest has a great article by Jeff Gerke that describes 4 approaches with examples (summarized here):

The Prolog – A prolog is an episode that pertains to your story but is in some way outside your main narrative. It may look back at a time long ago, or give a glimpse of the future. It may arise from an alternate pov to the main story, or provide a glimpse…